I think one of the most overused, to the point of illness, words that politicians use these days is the word "transparency." It is unfortunate that we have allowed politicians to commandeer such a simple, innocent word and have the definition worked to something out of a bad B Movie you would watch on a Saturday night.
Back in the day when you could actually walk into your Senators office without an appointment and see someone who could help you, "transparency" meant that the system was honest, that you could see all the working parts of whatever the issue was and you wouldn't become ill.
However, in this day and age when they use the word, and they all use it, what they mean is it is an open process and we will show you all the working parts, but we are going to do whatever the hell we want.
It is all about the money. CNN did a white paper on political fundraising where members of congress are required to raise money for the national party. They have quotas. And, where do you think most of the members of congress get their money from....lobbyists and lawyers.
So as we near the Fourth of July remember that members of congress raise millions of dollars for themselves....spend very little of it and then profess to anyone who will listen to them that they hate to do it. And, for whatever reason we put them back into office, whining that we have outdated tax laws, pay too much in taxes and don't get anything close to what we pay for. It used to be different.
It used to be.